Hicca, daughter of Skadi
by Feyregalathynius
Summary: Hicca (fem. Hiccup) is the village mistake, the screw up who seems to get nothing right. But she has a secret: she is an Ágesmir, a granddaughter of Skadi, and has dominion over ice and snow. But when she shoots down a night fury, her secret world is turned on it's head... Rated T because I'm paranoid.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer**: I do not own httyd  
A red-haired green-eyed girl traipsed through the village, thinking about her latest invention and how she could improve...

"Hey, useless!" Her cousin Snotlout (on her father's side, no godly genes for him) and her most common tormentor.

She kept on walking.

"Where are you going, useless? The chief's house? Come on useless, you know it's going to be mine someday. Why don't you just give it up?"

"She kept on walking, and reached the door of her house. She closed it behind her, leaving Snotlout to yell through the door.

"Yeah, that's right useless, go hide. Go..." That was all she heard, because she was sprinting out the back door as fast as her bare feet could carry her.

"Ash stared at Hicca as she walked into her house, Snotlout following her and jeering. He had had a crush on her since he knew what a crush was, but a few things stopped him from going over to talk to her, maybe defend her.

First, she was the chief's daughter. Stoic '_the_ _vast_' Haddock's daughter. He had no desire to have his head pulled off by her overprotective father.

Second, he was Ash _Hofferson_. Sure, he was the best fighter in his age group, but the Hofferson's weren't well regarded since his uncle died. They were dirt poor. How would someone like _her_ be even remotely interested in someone like _him_?

Last, she was _Hicca_ _Haddock_. The most beautiful girl since Vikings first came to Berk. Sure, she was thin and could barely fight, but that didn't matter to him. She was a _good_ _person_. That was rare in the Viking world. She was way out of his league.

He watched her peer out of the back door, and run full pelt for the woods.

How was she going to keep _warm_ with no furs?

He consi going after her, but she was too far ahead.

Good Gods, where did she learn to run so fast.

He shook his head, and headed home. Hicca was a far of dream, but his family were real. He had to be strong for them.

Hicca slid down the ice, landing with barely a thud on the soft grass of the cove. She raced over to the cave in the side, where she kept her things. This was _her_ place, her private sanctuary where she could be herself with no constraints, no worry that she could be seen. Here, she could let her power lose, and simply _be_. It was here that she used her favourite, most sophisticated invention of all.

Built not to hurt or kill, but to glide free across the ice, as fast as a dragon could fly.

A pair of white boots, adorned with ice patterns of her own making, laced up to her knees with perfectly sharpened blades across the soles.

She didn't know where the idea came from. It had been in her head ever since she was first apprenticed to Gobber. One day, she just tried it out and ... this.

This feeling, the _rightness_ in her body and her mind as she 'skated' across the ice, simply _knowing_ what to do. After a lap of the lake (frozen by herself. All the fish had long since been forcibly migrated to the pond in the corner), her body turned fully to autopilot, and she began to _really_ skate. Leaping, twirling, gliding, her body singing as she moved, silently dancing to the swish of her skates...

Then she stopped, gliding one-footed as she slowed to a near stop.

But she wasn't done. Not even close.

This was her secret life, her secret _world_, and she'd be damned if she had to leave before she had to.

Grinning ear to ear, she created obstacles of ice and started again.

**A/N thanks to all the people who noticed the glitch in my first draft of this. I really appreciate it when people take the time for constructive criticism and I read all the reviews I'm sent, so please keep doing it. Also sorry for the short chapter, it's a prologue the rest will be longer.**


	2. Raid

**Disclaimer**: I do not own httyd

**A/N: thanks for the reviews, this is not going to be a frozen-y story it will follow the plot (mostly) of httyd.**

_This is Berk. It's twelve days north of Hopeless and a few degrees south of Freezing-To-Death. It's located solidly on the meridian of misery. My village. In a word? Study. And it's been here for seven generations but every building is new. We have hunting and fishing and a charming view of the sunset. The only problems are the pests. You see, most places have mice or mosquitoes. We have..._

A girl peered out of her from door, having just changed back into clothes that wouldn't raise suspicion on her impunity to cold. She locked eyes with a monstrous nightmare, who turned it's fire on her door. She spun around just in time, creating a wall of ice to prevent her skin from burning. (Apparently, the gods demanded balance. Skill with one thing, no skill with another. Hence her skin's remarkable ability to burn).

"Dragons." She gasped out.

Hicca ran out of the burning house, dodging Vikings racing for a fight.

_Most people would leave. Not us. We're Vikings. We have stubbornness issues. My name's Hicca. Great name, I know. But it's not the worst. Parents believe a hideous name will frighten off gnomes and trolls. Like our charming Viking demeanor wouldn't do that._

A warrior landed on top of her, screaming. "Aaaaargh! Mornin'." Into her startled face before running off again.

As she ran around the hill towards the forge, she recieved yells of,

"What are you doin' out?"

"Get inside."

"Get back inside!"

Oh, the wonderful greetings of the townsfolk.

Suddenly, a hand yanks the back of her collar, lifting her clean of the ground.

(That happened a lot. Small girl, village full of massive Vikings. No big deal.)

"What is she doin' out again?! What are you doin' out?! Get inside!"

_That's Stoick the Vast. Chief of the tribe. They say that when he was a baby he popped a dragon's head clean off of its shoulders. Do I believe it? Yes I do._

"What have we got?"

"Gronkles, Nadders, Zipplebacks, and Horak saw a Monstrous Nightmare."

"Any Night Furies?"

"None so far."

"Good."

Burning torches raised up from the ground as Hicca raced across the plaza, illuminating the sky. She sped into the blacksmith's, where she strapped on an apron and started to work.

"Ah! Nice of you to join the party. I thought you'd been carried off."

"Who me? Nah, come on! I'm way too muscular for their taste. They wouldn't know what to do with all this."

Hicca made a bodybuilding pose in an attempt to look strong. For real though, they ran away as soon as she started to use her abilities. Not like she did that much.

"They need toothpicks, don't they?"

_The meathead with attitude and interchangeable hands is Gobber. I've been his apprentice ever since I was little. Well...littler._

From the shop window, Hicca watched multiple houses go up in flames.

_See? Old village. Lots and lots of new houses._

Hicca watched her fellow teens race towards the fire and start to douse it.

_Oh and that's Fishlegs, Snotlout. The twins Ruffnut and Tuffnut. And... Ash._

_Their job is so much cooler._

Hicca tried to follow them as they ran past, only to be stopped by Gobber.

"Ah, come on. Let me out, please. I need to make my mark." Seriously, though. It would be nice to escape to the beach.

"Oh, you've made plenty of marks. All in the wrong places."

"Please, two minutes. I'll kill a dragon. My life will get infinitely better. I might even get a date." Like she needed one.

"You can't lift a hammer. You can't swing an axe. You can't even throw one of these." Gobber tossed a bola out the window.

"Okay fine. But this will throw it for me!"

She tapped a metal contraption, which opened and launched a bola out the window, taking out a Viking.

"See this here is what I'm talkin' about!"

"Mild calibration issue..."

"Hicca, if you ever want to get out there to fight dragons you've got to stop all ... this."

"But you just pointed to all of me!"

"Yes! Stop being all of you!"

"Ohhhh..."

"Ohhhh, yes"

"You sir are playing a very dangerous game. Trying too keep this much raw ... Vikingness contained." More like Demi-god-ness but hey, only her dad knew so... "There will be consequences!"

She would not give up her secret life for anything.

"I'll take my chances. Sword. Sharpen. Now."

Then they heard the yells outside.

"Night Fury!"

"Get down!"

_Night furies. The dragon that no one has ever seen. This thing never steals food, never shows itself and never misses. No one has ever killed a Night Fury. That's why now would be a great time to escape._

"Man the fort Hicca! They need me out there!"

Perfect.

Hicca raced out of the shop, dodging Vikings.

"Hicca, where are you going?"

"Come back here!"

"I know! Be right back!"

Not likely.

Hicca reached the top of one of the cliffs surrounding the village, and prepared to leap off. She could make a slide...

Wham!

One of the canon towers near her exploded. The night fury was nearly invisible against the night sky, but she could just make it out.

She sent a net of ice to capture it and, too her shock, it worked, sending the dragon careening into the woods off raven point.

"I hit it? Oh yes I hit it! Did anyone see that?"

A monstrous nightmare heaved itself over the cliff.

"Except for you."

She couldn't use her abilities without exposing herself so - she ran. She his behind a torch pole, which she partially froze to avoid burns, shielding herself so the flames passed around her.

She peered around the pillar, hoping to gage the nightmare's location. Then the chief appeared, taking on the nightmare with far less skill and power then if she could just _show them who she really was!_

But this was her choice, her path. She would not be changing anything.

_Oh, and there's one more thing you need to know..._

"Sorry... dad."

The village stared at her with angry eyes.

"Okay but I hit a Night Fury." She was yanked by the shoulder as her father started to drag her to the house. "It's not like the last few times, Dad. I mean I really actually hit it. You guys were busy and I had a very clear shot. It went down, just off Raven Point. Let's get a search party out there," like she needed anyone near _her_ place, "Before it..."

"Stop. Just ... stop." _Yes_. "Every time you step outside, disaster follows." Yeah right. "Can you not see that I have bigger problems? Winter's almost here and I have an entire village to feed!" Hicca looked around at all the huge Vikings around her.

"Between you and me, the village could do with a little less feeding, don't ya think?"

"This isn't a joke, Hicca! Why can't you follow the simplest orders?" Uh, Ágesmir granddaughter of one of the stubbornest goddesses ever?

"I can't stop myself. I see a dragon and I have to just... kill it, you know?" If only she could. "It's who I am, Dad." More than you know.

"You are many things, Hicca. But a dragon killer is not one of them." Only if you believe the illusion. "Get back to the house."

Perfect.

"Make sure she gets there. I have her mess to clean up." Rude. It was very obviously the dragons.

As Gobber started to drag her up to the house, she passed her fellow teens.

"Quite the performance."

"I've never seen anyone mess up that badly." Wow. Look in the mirror. "That helped." Time to play.

"Thank you, thank you. I was trying, so..." trying to get the hell out.

Gobber dragged her onwards, until it was just them on the undamaged street.

"I really did hit one."

"Sure, Hicca."

"He never listens."

"Runs in the family." Wow.

"And when he does, it's always with this... disappointed scowl. Like someone skimped on the meat in his sandwich. Excuse me, barmaid. I'm afraid you brought me the wrong offspring. I ordered an extra large boy with beefy arms. Extra guts and glory on the side." An Ágesmir. "This here. This _girl_ is a talking fish bone." If only he knew.

"You're thinking about this all wrong. It's not so much what you look like. It's what's inside that he can't stand." Yes. The part of her that skated, that slid free across the ice. The part that was her own.

"Thank you for summing that up."

"Look, the point is, stop trying so hard to be something you're not." She didn't. She lied.

"I just want to be one of you guys." As if.

Hicca stopped long enough to remove all clothing designed for warmth (including shoes. It wasn't like the ice she ran on was spiky or anything) and raced out the back door, heading to the woods.

**A/N please review I love reading them.**


	3. Dragon!

**Disclaimer**: I do not own httyd.

**A/N**: **Hey** **people**, **thanks** **for** **the** **reviews**! **In** **response**:

**Musiclover435**: **thanks**, **I** **will** **do** **my** **best**.

**Mariah** (**Guest**): **Yes** **I** **did** **see** **it**, **thanks**. **Her** **dad** **does** **know** **she** **has** **powers**, **but** **doesn't** **know** **just** **how** **powerful** **and** **clever** **she** **really** **is**.

Hicca searched the woods, in every possible landing location.

Nothing.

In anger, she scribbled all over her prediction map.

"Uggh, the gods hate me. It's not like they're related to me or anything. Some people lose their knife or their mug. Not me. I manage to lose an entire dragon."

Hicca whacked a tree branch out of her way. It whacked her back.

She looked up at it. The tree was broken. That was definitely not there before.

It had been hit by something. The Night fury, probably. After all, what else could have made that long trench in the ground.

She slid down it on a makeshift slide of ice. Peering over the edge, she ducked back as she saw the fury. She held an ice dagger in her hand as she turned round to face it, tied up in her net.

"Oh wow. I did it? I did it! This fixes everything! Yes!" She put her foot on it in victory, but it jerked underneath as she scrambled back, pointing her ice blade at it. She slowly walked the length of the beast and, when she reached it's head, it opens it's eyes. She tried to look away, but couldn't. She raised her ice knife above her head, trying to be strong.

"I'm going to kill you, Dragon. I'm gonna cut out your heart and sacrifice it to my grandmother. I'm a Viking. I am a daughter of Skadi!"

She looked at the dragon, and into it's scared eyes. It flopped it's head to the side, trying to maintain dignity in death. She dropped the knife to her head, face screwed up in pain.

If this dragon died, it would be her fault.

Worse, it would be for her own selfish gain.

She couldn't do it.

The thought didn't scare her as much as she thought it would.

"I did this."

She turned to leave, but stopped. If she left the dragon here, it would die as surely as by her own hand.

She looked around to make completely certain no one was watching, then knelt down.

And started to melt the ice ropes.

As soon as she had finished, the dragon leapt on top of her, pinning her down. She did not want to kill this creature, but she would defend herself if she had to. She stared into it's eyes, boring into hers. It opened it's mouth, and she prepared to freeze...

It roared in her face, and disappeared through the trees.

She had barely walked two steps when all became dark.

Hicca approached the house, and winced. Her dad was awake, and she was still shoeless. She tried to sneak past and upstairs, but...

"Hicca." Crap.

"Dad, Uh... I, Uh, I have to talk to you, dad..."

"I need to speak with you too, daughter." Hicca said,

"I've decided I don't want to fight dragons." At the same time her father said something else.

They both said, "What?" At the same time.

"You go first."

"No, you go first."

"Alright. You get you're wish. Dragon training. You start in the morning."

"Oh man, I should've gone first. Uh, 'cause I was thinking, you know we have a surplus of dragon-fighting Vikings," the stutter was faked. So what? "but do we have enough bread-making Vikings, or small home..."

"You'll need this." Stoic shoved an axe into her hands. She purposefully dropped it.

"I don't want to fight dragons."

"Come on. Yes you do."

"Rephrase. Dad, I can't kill dragons."

"But you will."

"No, I'm really very extra sure that I won't."

"It's time Hicca."

"Can you not hear me?"

"This is serious daughter!" He forced her to hold the axe up. Did it really have to be so heavy to complete it's function? Her ice axes were never this heavy. "When you carry this axe... carry all of us with you. Which means you walk like us. You talk like us. You think like us. No more of... this."

"But you just gestured to all of me!"

"Deal?"

"This conversation is feeling very one sided..."

"Deal?"

"Deal." Stoic grabbed a bag full of stuff and headed for the door.

"Good. Train hard. I'll be back. Probably."

"And I'll be here. Maybe."

Hicca raced for the water, arms pumping ice as she ran and ran and...

The wind was knocked out of her as the wall of water hit her, sending her back into shore, coughing and spluttering.

Her greatest challenge, a simple test she set herself and yet had not completed.

Freezing the sea.

And then running across it.

It was the one thing that did not come naturally with ice (probably because Njord and Skadi hated each other with a passion). She had been at it for over three hours, with no sign of success.

She came here when she was mad, to take out her anger on something that could withstand it - the sea.

She heaved herself up by the cliff edge, and raced for the sea again.

"Welcome to dragon training!" Ash looked around the arena in awe.

"No turning back." He murmured to himself. He heard the other recruits talking.

"I hope I get some serious burns."

"I'm hoping for some mauling, like on my shoulder or lower back."

"Yeah, it's only fun if you get s scar out of it." He commented. Then, Hicca's voice sounded behind them.

"Yeah, no kidding, right? Pain. Love it." Ash was slowly processing the implications of her presence.

Tuffnut beat him to it for once.

"Oh great. Who let her in?" If she got hurt... it didn't quite bear thinking about.

"Let's get started! The recruit who does best will win the honour of killing his first dragon in front of the entire village." It had to be him. Maybe that would get Hicca to at least acknowledge his presence.

"Hicca already killed a Night Fury, so does that disqualify her or...?"

"Can I transfer to the class with the cool Vikings?" Great job Tuffnut. Hicca looks really sad now.

Maybe he ought to comfort her...

Never mind, Gobber was there. He said something to her, then addressed the group.

"Behind these doors are just a few of the many species you will lear to fight." Fishlegs could barely contain his excitement, and spewed out a torrent of facts.

"The Deadly Nadder."

"Speed eight. Armour sixteen..."

"The Hideous Zippleback."

"...plus eleven, stealth times two..."

"The Monstrous Nightmare."

"...Firepower fifteen..."

"The Terrible Terror."

"...Attack eight. Venom twelve..."

"CAN YOU STOP THAT?!" Gobber yelled, finally annoyed enough to do something about Fishlegs.

"And...the Gronckle." Fishlegs muttered something to Hicca.

Did she like him?

Never mind, Gobber was pulling the lever.

"Whoa, wait! Aren't you gonna teach us first!?" What was the last few minutes, lunch?

"I believe in learning on the job." Ash started to dodge through the arena, listening to Gobber.

"Today is about survival. If you get blasted, you're dead. Quick, what's the first thing you're going to need?"

"A doctor?" Hopefully she wouldn't need one.

"Plus five speed?" What the Hel did that mean? He knew the answer anyway.

"A shield."

"Shields. Go." He strapped one to his arm and kept running, absorbing information as he fought.

"Your most important piece of equipment is your shield. If you must make a choice between a sword or a shield, take the shield." He heard Ruff and Tuff arguing.

"Get your hands off my shield!"

"There are like a million shields!"

"Take that one, it has a flower on it. Girls like flowers."

"Ooops, now this one has blood on it." Ash heard an explosion.

"Tuffnut, Ruffnut, you're out!"

"What?!"

"What?!" He pushed their protests from his mind as Gobber started to speak.

"Those shields are good for another thing. Noise. Make lots of it to throw off a dragon's aim." Ash complied, banging his axe against his shield. "All dragons have a limited number of shots. How many does a Gronckle have?"

"Five!"

"No, six."

"Correct, six. That's one for each of you!" Great.

"I really don't think my parents would..."

"Fishlegs, out. Hicca, get in there!" Don't let her in here, she'd die! He came out of his roll next to Snotlout, dodging away again as he started to speak.

"So anyway I'm moving into my parents' basement. You should come by sometime to work out. You look like you work out..."

"Snotlout! You're done!" He ended up next to Hicca.

"So, I guess it's just you and me, huh?" He hated himself for what he did next, but...

"Nope. Just you."

"One shot left!" Good. But then he heard..."

"Hicca!" Oh no. Hicca was being chased by the Gronkle, pushed up against a wall. Oh Gods, this was it, she was going to expose herself...

The Gronkle hit the wall above her, Gobber's metal hand in it's mouth. "And that's six! Go back to bed, ya overgrown sausage! You'll get another chance, don't you worry." He turned back to the group. "Remember... a dragon will always, _always_, go for the kill." Ash didn't understand the look on Hicca's face as she stared at the scorch mark. Or why she raced once again for the woods.

"So why didn't you?" Hicca mused, turning the unmelted remains of the ice ropes in her hands. She let go ands stood up, heading in the rough direction she saw it go, ending up on the rim of her cove. Looking down, she saw a black scale on the ground. She picked it up, inspected it, and tossed it over her shoulder.

"Well this was stupid." She murmured. But then...

She was thrown back by a gust of wind, and a dragon hurtled past, only to fall back into the cove. Still reeling with shock that there was a emdragon/em in emher place/em, she watched it leap up the walls and prowl around it's confines, sketching animatedly. She watched it trying to fish sadly. This was her fault. But...

"Why don't you just...fly away?" That was when she saw it.

The dragon was missing it's left tailfin. It was off balance. That was why it couldn't fly.

She dropped her pencil in shock.

The dragon looked up at the noise, and met her eyes. Neither could really find a good reason to look away.

Until the rain started to pour in, and Hicca has to return to the village.

Hicca entered the hall, soaked through. And her fellow teens were all sitting together. Great. She listened to their conversation as she collected her food.

"Alright. Where did Ash go wrong in the ring today?" Umm... nowhere?

"I mistimed my summersault dive. It was sloppy. It threw off my reverse tumble." Of course he did.

"Yeah. We noticed."

"No, no, you were great. That was so 'Ash'." Of course it was, Snotlout.

"He's right, you have to be tough on yourselves." Hicca walked past the table and sat down on the next one over, alone. As usual.

"Where did Hicca go wrong?" Gobber, why did he always have to try and include her in the conversation

"She showed up."

"She didn't get eaten." Wow. Amazingly kind of you, Tuffnut.

"She's never where she should be." Ash tried to soften the truthful statement, but from the look on her face, it hadn't worked.

"Thank you, Ash. You need to live and breathe this stuff." He dropped a thick book on the table "The dragon manual. Everything we know about every dragon we know of." Outside the hall, thunder boomed. "No attacks tonight. Study up."

"Wait, you mean read?" What else?

"While we're still alive?" When else. It was highly unlikely that Odin would keep books in Valhalla. Or that Hel would keep book in, well, Hel.

"Why read words when you can just kill the stuff the words tell you stuff about?" As usual, zero sense was coming out of Snotlout's mouth.

"Oh! I've read it like, seven times." Of course he had. "There's this water dragon that sprays boiling water at your face..." Why wouldn't there be? "And there's this other one that buries itself for like a week..." Oookaaay...

"Yeah, that sounds great. There was a chance I was going to read that..." since when?

"...but now..."

"You guys read, I'll go kill stuff." Fishlegs continued to spurt facts as they walked off, leaving Ash at the table alone.

"So I guess we'll share..." she tried. Ash really wanted to, but...

Training. Winning. Sleep.

"Read it." She continued to speak as he walked off.

"All mine then. Wow, so okay. I'll see you..." the door slammed shut. "Tomorrow." She finished. Sighing, she checked no one was looking before racing out the back door. She needed to get her frustration out, so she headed to the beach.

Hicca peered through the great hall and, satisfied that is was empty, walked towards one of the tables and lit two candles to see by, before opening the book. She had just put her boots and furs back on, and hoped that it would hide her soaked clothing and salt-healing scrapes from the cliff rocks. She opened the first page and read it aloud.

"Dragon classifications. Strike class. Fear class. Mystery class." She turned the page to find the description of a dragon. "Thunderdrum. This reclusive dragon inhabits sea caves and dark tide pools. When startled, the Thunderdrum produces a concussive sound that can kill a man at close range. Extremely dangerous. Kill on sight." New page, new dragon. "Timberjack. This gigantic creature has razor sharp wings that can slice through full grown trees... extremely dangerous, kill on sight." Yet another dragon. "Scauldron. Sprays scalding water at its victim. Extremely dangerous." She moved on without finishing the page "Changewing. Even newly hatched dragons can spray acid. Kill on sight." She started to flip the pages faster. "Gronkle. Zippleback. The Skrill. Bone Knapper. Whispering Death. Burns its victims. Buries its victims. Chokes its victims. Turns its victims inside-out. Extremely dangerous. Extremely dangerous. Kill on sight. Kill on sight. Kill on sight..." At last! "Night Fury." There was no drawing, just a few words at the bottom "Speed unknown. Size unknown. The unholy offspring of lightning and death itself. Never engage this dragon. Your only chance is to hide and pray it does not find you."

Hicca pulled out her sketchbook and pulled out her drawing of the dragon in her cove. She stared at it in silence.

**A/N: Please review, I love to read them and construtive criticism is always welcome.**

**Also, 2,557 words! I have wowed myself out.**


	4. A dragon's tail

**Disclaimer**: I do not own httyd

**A**/**N:** **Thanks** **for** **all** **the** **reviews**!

**Musiclover435**: **Thank** **you**, **I do** **try** **to** **update** **regularly**.

**Sam1727**: **Thank** **you**, **and** **I do** **intend** **to** **complete** **this** **story**.

Hicca looked around her immediate area and, satisfied that the Nadder was nowhere nearby, asked Gobber,

"You know, I just happened to notice the book had nothing on Night furies. Is there another book? Or a/spanspan style="caret sequel? Maybe a little Night furt pamphlet?"

She was cut off by the wall behind her exploding, and she ran.

"Focus Hicca! You're not even trying!" Hicca absorbed what Gobber was saying while she ran.

"Today... is all about attack. Nadders are quick and light on their feet. Your job is to be quicker and lighter." Fill this arena with ice, and they'd see just how quick and light she could be.

"I'm really beginning to question your teaching methods!" Of course he was.

"Look for its blind spot. Every dragon has one. Find it, hide in it, and strike." If she did, she'd be exposed, so no thanks. Behind her, the twins started to argue.

"Do you ever bathe?"

"If you don't like it, then just get your own blind spot." Umm... how would that help?

"How about I give you one!" Worst idea since Odin places Midgard in the hands of Ask and Embla. Seriously, he had to have been drunk. She heard an explosion, then commentary from Gobber,

"Blind spot? Yes. Deaf spot? Not so much." If she wasn't still running, she would have laughed. As soon as she felt safer again, she asked,

"Hey, so how would one sneak up on a Night Fury?" After all, she had managed it.

"None one's ever met one and lived to tell the tale." Gods. "Now get in there." Not if she wanted to not blow her cover.

"I know, I know, but hypothetically..." she trailed off as she noticed Ash making shushing motions, crouched behind a wall with Snotlout.

"Hicca!" She hid with them, but the Nadder attacked. She ran, and listened to the others talking.

"Watch out bro. I'll take care of this." Then, "The sun was in my eyes, Ash." Of course it was. What do you want me to do, block out the sun? I could do that, but I don't have time right now!" She would have laughed if she wasn't talking to Gobber. Again.

"They probably take the daytime off. You know, like a cat. Has anyone ever seen one napping?" Twin yells echoed through the arena.

"Hicca!"

"Hicca!" She turned around to see the walls collapsing, and Ash landed on top of her.

"Oooh! Love on the battlefield!"

"He could do better." Ruffnut gestured to herself.

Ash barely had the chance to register that he was on top of Hicca, or the slight squish under his hand when he stood up, as he lifted his battle axe (still attached to her shield) and whacked the attacking Nadder in the face with it. He then whirled back to face the girl below him, her face screwed up in pain.

"Is this some kind of a joke to you? Our parents' war is about to become ours. Figure out which side you're on.

He didn't realise just how much of an effect those word would have on her later. Or understand the teasing he got from Snotlout later that day.

Hicca peered over the edge and, satisfied she wasn't about to be eaten, tossed the fish into the cove. From behind her ice shield, she watched as it was left alone. She walked forward to retrieve it, but her shield was stuck in the rocks. Sighing, she let it melt. She picked up the fish and peered around, looking for the Night fury. Behind her, it crouched on a rock, ready to spring.

She held out the fish in a silent plea for it not to eat her. It continued to approach, but adopted a non-threatening posture, so she felt at least partially safe.

Then, it hissed. She followed it's gaze to her ice dagger, strapped beneath the furs she hadn't had time to remove.

Trying not to think about the fact she was about to become nearly defenceless with one of the most deadly creatures on Midgard, she let the dagger melt.

As soon as she did, the dragon relaxed. His pupils widened, giving him an almost cute expression. Looking closer, she noticed...

"Huh. Toothless. I could've sworn you had..." impatient, the dragon let it's teeth slide out and grabbed the fish. "... teeth." The teeth retracted again, and he looked expectantly at her, sniffing and backing her against a boulder.

"Uh, no. No, I don't have any more." The dragon seemed to consider her for a moment, before dumping half of a half digested fish in her lap and sitting back to watch. She gave him a confused look.

He looked at the fish, then back at her.

He didn't want her to...

Sighing, she gingerly picked up the fish, taking a small bite and offering the rest to him.

He looked at her and made a swallowing motion.

Shuddering, she complied, and offered him a shaky smile.

To her eternal shock, his lips pulled back in a toothless smile of his own.

She decided to push her luck, and she reached for him.

He hissed, and half-flew to the other side of the cove. He burnt a patch of grass and lay down to sleep. Hicca pulled on her skates and followed him, sitting down cross-legged to hide the blades under her thighs. The dragon looked at her, and put his tail in between them.

She reached out to touch it.

He scampered away.

She knew better than to follow him again.

The night fury woke up, and stared around the cove. Had the strange not-so-squish stayed?

For some reason, he hoped she had.

He spotted her sat on an inexplicable lump of ice on the now-frozen lake (again, inexplicably). She was using those strange contraptions on her hind paws, dragging the blade at the base along the ice. He walked up behind her in an attempt to find a reason for her strange scribbles.

It looked surprisingly like him, when his face was reflected off ice or water. She had to be incredibly skilled to create a perfect a likeness of another living creature as this. Briefly, he wondered if he should have a go. It might make her happy.

And for some reason, that made him happy.

He picked up one of the strange metal poles around the edge of the cove (he later realised they were holding up those floating-flame-things) and started to drag it across the ice.

After a few seconds of strong resistance, the ice started to give was under his makeshift drawing tool.

He realised that the human was melting the ice beneath him, and smiled to himself, sketching aimlessly. The human simply watched, seeming fascinated, as he finished his drawing. She stood up, and started to walk on those strange blades over to him. She stepped on one of his lines.

He hissed in warning.

She lifted it off.

He purred in gratification.

She put it down again.

He hissed.

She picked it off.

He purred.

She put it down, on the other side of the line. When he didn't hiss, she gave him a huge grin, and started to leap.

He'd never seen anything like it. She was graceful and fast as she leapt across the ice, spinning and twirling, never once stepping on any of his lines.

Her movements were beautiful and careful, dancing to the near-silent swish of her paw-contraptions. So this was what they were for.

All the squishes he'd ever seen had always been lumbering, slow to his own eyes, thinking only of death and pain. He'd never seen one value anything else.

_But_ _maybe_, he thought as the girl slid across the ice, _they_ _should._

She slid to a stop, one paw outstretched behind her as she glided out of his maze and to a stop a mere terror-length in front of him. She looked at him, and stretched out her front paw.

He reared back a few terror-tail-widths.

She sighed, and turned her face away. She extended her paw towards him again, stopping just before his nose. Letting him decide. _Trusting_ him.

He had never had someone who trusted him before. Maybe -

Maybe they weren't so different after all.

Maybe she needed someone just as badly as he did, even without realising it.

Maybe she wanted to be trusted too.

He leaned forward, scales touching skin.

She looked up, and met his eyes.

Neither bothered to move for a very long time.

Hicca stood at the cliff edge, and raced for the water again. She needed to get her anger out before she saw Ash again. How _dare_ he touch her like...

Instead of water and ice, she was met with air.

Air, as she hurtled over the wave, freezing the water behind it.

And the next wave.

And the next.

And the next.

For the first time in her life, she had done something entirely of her own accord. With no outside assistance, nothing but her own determination and skill.

She could do it, she realised. She could run, on and on forever, stopping only for food, maybe an hour of sleep when she felt like it. She could run, and never look back.

But, for the first time, she had something and someone who wanted her to go back.

Someone _worth_ going back for.

Toothless.

Her dragon.

No, more than that.

Her friend.

Her soul-brother, who had seen her for _her_. And had not walked away.

A grin splitting her face in two, she let out a whoop of ecstasy and planted her foot, spinning round and racing back for the now-distant shore.

Hicca raced up the steps to the top of the tower, arriving just after the other teens sat down. She grabbed a fish and started to cook it, hiding her laboured breathing. She heard Gobber finish speaking as soon as she got back to normal.

"...and with one twist he took my hand and swallowed it whole. And I saw the look on his face. I was delicious. He must have passed the word, because it wasn't a month before another one of them took my leg.

"Isn't it weird to think that your hand was inside a dragon. Like if your mind was still in control of it you could have killed the dragon from the inside by crushing his heart or something." How exactly would that work?

"I swear I'm so angry right now. I'll avenge your beautiful hand and your beautiful foot. I'll chop off the legs of every dragon I fight," sucking up the the teacher much? "with my face!" How? Would he bite through it?

"Un-unh. It's the wings and the tails you really want. If it can't fly, it can't get away. A downed dragon is a dead dragon." Was that to be Toothless's fate?

No.

She wouldn't let it be.

Hicca began to quietly sneak towards the exit.

"Alright. I'm off to bed. You should be too. Tomorrow we get into the big boys. Slowly but surely making our way up to the Monstrous Nightmare. But who'll win the honour of killing it?"

"It's gonna be me. It's my destiny. See?"

"Your mom let you get a tattoo?"

"It's not a tattoo. It's a birthmark."

"Okay, I've been stuck with you since birth, and that was never there before."

"Yes it was. You've just never seen me from the left..." That was all she heard, because she was racing for the blacksmith's as fast as her legs would carry her.

Ash stared down the stairwell, watching Hicca disappear. That in itself wasn't unusual: Hicca disappeared from somewhere on an almost daily basis.

"What set this time apart was her franticness, the way her eyes went wide and fearful when Gobber said '_A_ _downed_ _dragon_ _is_ _a_ _dead_ _dragon_' before hardening in determination.

It was probably nothing - he was likely just being paranoid. She was probably just working on one of her inventions.

Still, he couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't quite right.

A feeling that would only grow stronger over the coming weeks.

Hicca stood in the smithy, smiling down at the piece of paper in from of her. It was likely past midnight, but the lack of sleep was worth it. This would be her greatest project, and she did not want to get a single thing wrong.

Because she was going to get Toothless to fly again.

She walked over to the pile of weapons marked as 'irreparable' and dumped them in the fire, using the bellows to heat them up. Then she started to shape the now pliable metal into rods, wearing gloves of ice to protect herself and freezing each rod solid when it was done. Then she started to connect up the rods, allowing the fin to be in different positions at the same time. After that, she cut leather, fitting it to the shape of the fin she had already planned out.

When she had stitched it all together, she held it up, pleased by her own work.

It was time to introduce a dragon to his new limb.

Hicca slid into the cove, and pulled on her boots as she yelled,

"Hey, Toothless!" Toothless walked over, eyes wide and happy.

"I brought breakfast. I hope you're hungry." She tipped out the basket next to her, resulting in a large pile of dead fish. Toothless dug in excitedly.

"Okay, that's disgusting. Uh..we've got some salmon ... some nice Icelandic cod... and a whole smoked eel!" Toothless reared back, hissing at the long rope-like creature in the pile. She snatched it away hurriedly, tossing it into the fish's pond.

"No, no, no! It's okay. Yeah, I don't like eel much either." Toothless started to eat again, and Hicca began to move to his tail in an attempt to attach the tail without alerting the dragon.

The Night fury dug into the food pile, ignoring the friendly squish behind him.

"Okay. That's it. That's it, just stick with good stuff. And don't you mind me. I'll just be back...here. Minding my own business..." he was just searching around the basket for more when he felt it.

The weight on his tail.

The Gods had given him his tailfin back!

He spread his wings, and leapt into the air. But no... the tail wasn't moving! He was going to crash, he was...

The tail spread at the last second, sending him up and out. It was then that he heard the yell behind him.

"It's working! Yes! Yes! I did it!" The squish was on his tail. That crossed the line. Friend or not, he wasn't going to let her hitch a ride like a parasite.

He directed them over the lake, and tossed her in. That way, she'd get a soft landing. But his tail wasn't working again! He was going to crash into...

He hit something smooth and cold, and slid to the ground with no injuries. He looked up to see a slide of ice, presumably what had helped him with the not-so-amazing landing. The squish was stood in her paw-contraptions near a similar slide, yelling,

"Yeah!" He realised what had happened.

The squish had given him a new tailfin, but he couldn't control it without her. He couldn't _fly_ without her.

For some reason, he didn't feel as bad as he should have about it.

**A/N: Please review I love to read them! And 2,714 words! I am really outdoing myself on this.**


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